


The Guardian

by mutantleech



Series: The Guardian Universe [1]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: BAMF!Remus, Child Abuse, Guardian!Remus, It gets very graphically violent down the line, Kidnapping kids, M/M, Ok I'll stop abusing the tag system now bye, Parent Figures, This is a repost, You Have Been Warned
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-07-24
Updated: 2013-08-09
Packaged: 2017-12-21 06:30:15
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 6
Words: 17,668
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/896954
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mutantleech/pseuds/mutantleech
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After the first war Remus is left alone and drags himself through life, that is until he meets a four year old Harry whom he decides to save from the Dursleys. Meanwhile an innocent Sirius brakes out of Azkaban and is set on finding his former lover</p><p> </p><p>This fic was originally posted on FFN back in 2008 and I have no idea what possessed me to edit it. Well, it needed heavily editing, so here we go.<br/>(I'll be posting chapters as I polish them - story is already complete, if you want to read the rest, search for mutantleech on ffnet)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This story centers mostly around the relationship between Remus and Harry, though there is Remus/Sirius slash down the road. So yeah, hang around for that ;)  
> While I am editing this story myself to re-post it, it is still un-beta'ed, so please mind the errors!

A cat walked around the ally digging into the trash looking for something edible. The trees on the nearby park rustled softly in the wind and all the folks from Little Whinging, Surrey went about with their lives. All was perfectly normal, one could say.

Of course that person surely wouldn't have seen as, in the same ally as before, a man appeared out of nowhere as if by magic.

He straightened his old-looking and rumpled clothes as best as he could before sighing and walking out of there, not before greeting the old cat. Reaching the sidewalk, he stared at the recently risen sun, whose light made his already amber eyes seem yellow.

Just staring at him like this, one couldn't possibly imagine how brave that man was for just standing there. This alone was a miracle, not to mention getting up everyday and coming here like he had not a care in the world. Surely one could not understand.

Sighing again- he seemed to do that a lot- he ran a hand through his honey colored hair, which already had a few strands of premature gray in it, and made his way to the book store just around the corner where he worked.

A grandpa-looking man was just opening up as he got there, placing some books on the show window.

"Oh, good morning Remus" he greeted, always in a good mood. "Feeling better?"

The younger one smiled, nodding to his boss.

"I'm much better, thank you" he answered politely. "Was it too much trouble?" he asked just as he went inside to hang his coat in the back room.

"It was fine, lad, my son was here to help me. And you have your days off, now don't you?" he said as he went back to the counter "But you should really go see a doctor about this sickness of yours, you know? You get sick too much, it could be serious!"

Remus smiled, but said nothing.  He only wished it was as simple as that. But lycanthropy… he'd die with it and all it came with and there was nothing anyone could do about it.

He was always quiet like this, the owner reminded himself. He was a very good person, with a kind heart, and he was also very hard-working. Only, he never spoke of himself, of where he came from, where he lives, who his family is. Remus Lupin was a mystery.

Also Mr. Harrison had never seen a 24 year old look so tired and powerless like this. With eyes that belonged to one who's seen worse then death, someone who has seen war.

As noon approached, Remus went to sweep outside seeing as no one was in the store at the moment. But just as he was doing so a couple arrived and he dutifully went in after them.

"Can I help you with anything?" he asked politely while showing a smile.

Neither smiled back though, actually neither looked very friendly at all. The horse-necked woman was bluntly staring at his face, namely staring at the two thin and faded scars on it. While the purple faced man just looked impatient like he had not chosen to be there.

"No, we're fine" she answered with an air of importance after eyeing him up and down.

Turning around she started looking through the shelves and ended up in the children's books section where she started searching along with her, Remus guessed, husband.

"Why do we have to buy this rubbish?" the whale-like man complained as he looked through random books with less care than the werewolf thought was necessary. "Dudley can't even read yet!" he kept saying.

"I know he can't read _yet,_ but he needs loads of books Vernon, so he can grow into the smart boy I know he'll be!" she argued in an annoying high-pitched voice.

They chose some children story books and looked ready to pay for them all when the horse-necked woman asked quietly "And what about… him?"

"What about him?" the man's calm visually dissipated "You think I'll be wasting money on that freak?!"

The woman didn't dare bring it up again after that, it looked like it was a settled matter.

"Oh, Vernon! Look at the time! We have to pick up little Duddikins from Marge's!" She said suddenly as they got to the cash register. "Also, it's too risky leaving him alone in the house. What if he decides to do something" she said with venom, once again lowering her voice.

Remus watched them go as soon as they had paid and couldn't help but be sorry for whatever soul had to share a household with those very rude people.

Dawn thankfully didn't take long to come and his shift's end came with it. He was very anxious to get home. After all, he only liked to stay in this world that wasn't his the strictly necessary time.

But as soon as he set foot outside the store, not before saying goodbye to his boss, his desire to get home disappeared. For one who seemed so eager before, he just looked discouraged now.

At the end of the day, going back to the wizarding world was not such a wonderful thing.

For everyone the war was over, the world was safe! Evil defeated and joy was all around. For Remus John Lupin, werewolf, whose friends and lover were either dead or in Azkaban, the end of the war was nothing to be celebrated. For him nothing had changed.

And so that day he decided, for that little reason, to stay in the muggle world for a bit longer than necessary. Trying to, somehow, forget the world around him and the reminder that between wizards a dark creature like him was not wanted, which was why he was working at a muggle bookstore to begin with.

He went to the park across the street, the orange sky shining over him and filling him up with something akin to hope. He sat down on one of the benches watching as some children played around and couples enjoyed their lover's companies under the setting sun.

It made him feel nostalgic.

He remembered the hopes he had with Sirius, the plans they had made, their exchanges of 'forever'. How much he wished, every day, to have his lover back. To have his life back the way it had been before the war. Get back his friends, his happiness and carelessness.

"I miss you so much Siri" he whispered to no one as he felt a lonely tear slowly make its way down his face.

Almost as hard as losing Sirius was losing Peter, James and Lily. And Sirius absence wasn't the worst one because he had been his lover, but because of the way he had been taken from Remus. He had betrayed him, betrayed them all, so not only was he now locked up in Azkaban but he also took the happy memories with him. The werewolf couldn't remember him the same way he had been, because he didn't know if his Sirius was ever real at all. His Padfoot would have never sold his friends out, would have never doubted him, would have never-

He sighed again and started wondering where they would all be right now if not in these circumstances. Prongs and Lily would have been able to see Harry grow. Actually, all of them would have, and could have been a part of the boy's life. Peter would have had an amazing future waiting for him. Remus and Sirius would have been living together somewhere, happy as could be.

But none of that would ever happen. And that left Lupin, the werewolf: alive and alone with no idea what to do with his life. The only comfort he had was in knowing that his best friends' son was being taken care of and most importantly, was away from a world that would expect too much from him too soon.

He looked at those around him, watching the lucky people who could live their lives in peace, who had no idea how fortunate they were to never have seen war.

Not far from there was a little hot dog stand that made him realize he hadn't eaten a thing all day. He checked his pockets for muggle change and at finding some he got up and went to get himself some food.

A few steps on the way though and he felt something collide with his legs. He fought to keep his balance and looked down with a frown on his face only to see a pair of bright green eyes staring back at him.

"I'm sorry mister" the owner of said green eyes murmured politely as he got up and cleaned his hands on his oversized shirt.

"Are you ok?" Remus asked, kneeling down and patting the boy on the head. He had really messy hair, the werewolf noticed, even for a kid. "Hey, what's your name?"

The boy kept staring back, but didn't answer. He didn't look all too comfortable.

"My auntie told me not to talk to strangers" he mumbled.

Remus gave a soft smile and looked around, hoping to see said aunt, but it seemed no one was looking at them from any part of the park.

"Where is your aunt?" he asked then, still kneeling down.

The boy still seemed reluctant to talk to him, so he once again patted his head, keeping his warm smile.

"You can talk to me, I'm not a bad stranger" he tried "My name is Moony"

"Moony? It's a funny name!" the little one said suddenly, this time smiling back. "I'm Harry" he answered looking straight into the werewolf's eyes.

Remus seemed taken aback by this. The name, the hair, the eyes… what would be the odds of-

Without saying anything he pushed the messy bangs of jet black hair out of the boy's forehead and, as though he hadn't been expecting it, he was surprised to see a lightning shaped scar there.

"Harry" he murmured to himself, a bit mesmerized. Though it was ridiculously easy to believe the boy was James's son, Remus never thought he would actually bump into him in the middle of a random park.

"Nice to meet you Harry" he recomposed himself. It was best pretending not to know him. "So, where is your aunt? Is she that lady on the bench there?" he asked gesturing to an old lady nearby.

The boy who lived just shrugged.

"She's at home"

"At home? So who came here with you?" The werewolf asked frowning, at the same time calculating how old the kid was now.

Again Harry kept quiet, not much of a talker was he?

Standing up, Remus looked at the stand where he had been headed before.

"How would like a hotdog, Harry? You hungry?" he grabbed at the first idea to keep talking to the boy.

"I like hotdogs!!" Harry said happily, approaching the older man "can I really have one?" he asked, with a quieter voice now.

Remus nodded and asked the vendor for two, after a bit of struggle with muggle money, managing to pay for them. Really, Remus only used muggle money when he got his pay check and went to exchange it immediately in Gringots, but now he was becoming more familiar with it since he always ended up having lunch in the surroundings of the bookstore since apparating back and forth in broad daylight could eventually get him into a lot of trouble. The last thing he needed now was ministry workers putting him on a trial for breaking the statute of secrecy.

Once they both had their respective snacks, they went to sit on the bench Remus had been at before. And while they were both eating, the werewolf took the time to look clearly at the boy sitting by his side.

All in all, he hadn't expected Harry to look like that. He was very thin and small, almost like an underfed child, which was quite shocking compared to how healthy James used to look. Also the clothes he was wearing looked like they came from a rubbish bin rather then a store, not to mention they were at least four sizes too big. As if the boy didn't look small enough on his own.

And all of this was confusing Remus greatly, wasn't Harry supposed to be under the care of his aunt? Sure, from what he heard Petunia wasn't exactly a walk in the park, but he couldn't imagine her mistreating an innocent child.

Maybe he had just caught the kid on a bad day, maybe Harry was simply smaller then James. Lily hadn't been that tall anyway, right?

Frowning and not wanting to jump to conclusions, Remus tried talking to him again.

"Harry, did you come here alone today?" he asked.

"Auntie never wants to come with me, so when I wanna play I come alone"

"How old are you little one?"

Harry stared at one of his hands for a while and then showed Remus three fingers.

"I'm like this" he answered, still showing. But then he frowned "no, like this" now he showed four fingers, and then went back to eating his hotdog.

"Aren't you too little to come play by yourself? Does your aunt know you're here?"

Harry shrugged.

"I can't play at home. And she said I could come so I don't bother her"

Remus frowned, she let him come alone?

"Do you want me to walk you home?" the werewolf asked as soon as he was done eating.

"Auntie would be mad, I can go by myself" he said matter-of-factly.

The man wasn't sure he liked that arrangement, but decided not to meddle. Each family had their own sets of rules and he wasn't about to mess with Harry's one.

"Do you come here everyday to play?" he asked instead.

"Only when auntie is- only when auntie lets me" Harry started but then changed his phrase quickly.

"Oh I see, well then Harry, it was very nice to meet you, I hope I can see you again around here" he said smiling and once again patting the kid on the head. He had to go.

"Ok" the boy answered, smiling back. He liked this Moony person.

The werewolf nodded and glanced back one more time before he made his way back to the alley he'd disapparate in. It was all he could do to ignore the bad feeling he had in the pit of his stomach.


	2. Chapter 2

He had just cleaned up his place and was now sitting on the kitchen's chair while reading a book and half listening to the wireless. He had always been good at doing two things at a time.

Though Remus had no hope of finding a job in the wizarding world anytime soon he still kept himself sharp at all subjects one was suppose to know, just in case, you see. Also, he tried as hard as he could not to let himself go, especially right after Sirius's arrest. It was like there was still some hope left inside of him, telling him to just hold on as hard as could to life because sunnier days would come.

Yeah, and he was still waiting after three years.

Though his attention was mostly on the potions' book in front of him, he still caught a few key words from the news being told on the wireless and just then he picked up something about the war. Maybe he was still too paranoid, but when he heard that word he put the book down almost instantly and put all his attention on hearing what was being said.

"…to the Halloween parties, there will also be the celebration of Harry Potter's victory over he-who-must-not-be-named. The ministry has been arranging the party since last month and promises it will be even greater then last year's…"

It went on and on about special guests and fireworks and Remus almost tuned out again. Any mention of celebration actually made him depressed; he had nothing to celebrate after all. But before he could turn his attentions back to the advanced properties of Gillyweed the news changed into something he would dread to hear.

"…the new legislation will be announced officially tomorrow and those who wish to learn about their new situation will be able to read it on the Daily Prophet. The new laws, written under the guidance of Senior Undersecretary of the Minister, Dolore Umbridge, restrict futher the rights of Werewolves to work, attend schools and chose their living arrangements. Mesures such as registration, the use of the silver quill by stablishments, confiscation of wands and others are all speciffied on the list." Then, just like that, the news changed to something as trivial as to where the Weird Sisters would be touring next.

Remus stared at the tea-filled mug on top of the table for a good five minutes without blinking.

Great.

See, this was the thing about having hope, it meant having your heart open to being crushed. And that's how the werewolf felt at the moment, crushed. Wasn't it enough that he was already an outcast on the wizarding world? That he had no one with him? That he had to endure the full moons alone and work on a muggle bookstore? What more did they want to take from him? There was nothing left!

Wrong, there was, there was his magic to be taken away, his right to come and go as he pleased and to dream about the future he wished he could have. But of course all of that could be restricted now.

Sighing he got up, leaving his book and mug on the table. He stood there for a minute or two staring at nowhere. He seemed to be doing that a lot lately, standing and looking around, feeling completely detached as though he was waiting for something to rip through this shadow of a life and tell him it had all been an insane nightmare.

Of course that didn't happen and so he dragged his feet upstairs and into the bedroom. He didn't even bother stepping out of his shoes or changing into night robes, he just lay down on the bed looking up at the ceiling not knowing what else to do. He didn't feel the need to sleep, though he was tired, after all he knew his fatigue wasn’t going away just by closing his eyes.

He stared at the eaten up wooden door and felt himself get a bit drowsy, he acknowledged how his house was becoming more and more like the beaten up shack he'd transform in back at Hogwarts just before he watched as the door changed.

Instead of an old broken-at-the-edges door there was suddenly a rich mahogany one and just as he was studying its carved drawings it gently swung open. He watched with curiosity as someone stepped into the room and walked towards him. He frowned realizing he recognized that person. Those raven locks, that pair of gray-silver eyes, that very grin-like smile, that light aristocratic skin.

Sirius Black was standing there, a calm and serene expression on his face. He walked towards the werewolf without saying a thing and still remaining quiet he got into bed with the honey-haired one.

Remus was confused as he watched the man enter his room and reach him; he didn't understand why he didn't feel surprised at the animagus' presence. For some reason he couldn't remember at the moment, he knew Sirius couldn't really be there. So how was that happening?

A warm and soft pressure on his lips brought him out of his fogged thoughts to concentrate only on that feeling. He felt long fingers running through his hair just as a tongue touched his own.

It felt like heaven.

He wanted to touch him too; he wanted to call out to him, to kiss him back, anything. But his limbs felt numb and heavy, he couldn't move at all.

The warmth on his lips was gone and he felt as though a part of his life had been taken and he couldn't even complain. But he relaxed when he realized his lover was still there, only Sirius was just watching him, fingers still playing with his locks. It was like the animagus was trying to memorize all of the sight before him. He used to do that a lot.

Leaving his hair, the hand traced his features calmly; they traveled over his eyes, his nose, his mouth until they reached his neck. His lover's left hand joined the right one, both thumbs tracing his jaw softly as the other fingers wrapped around him. The pressure on his neck became more noticeable and Remus frowned not understanding what was happening. Sirius didn't stop tightening his grip which grew more and more unbearable. Both his hands clenched around the werewolf's neck and soon Remus felt himself being deprived from air.

He was suffocating.

Frowning he tried to say something, scream, call for help, or even to ask why Sirius would do such a thing. Put no words came out, he couldn't even feel himself choke as the man in front of him started laughing. A feeling of déjà vu invaded the werewolf, he knew he had seen his lover laughing in this maniac way once before.

Oh, that's right, it had been right after he'd killed off Peter.

"Remmie" a voice called through that unbearable silence, and now complete darkness. "It wasn't me! It wasn't me! Please!" it said desperately "Moony, believe me! It wasn't me!" The next time it screamed at him Remus felt a sharp pain in his heart and sat up hastily on his bed.

"It was a dream" He told himself at once while trying to even out his ragged breathing. He ran a hand through his hair and breathed out heavily, his heart was still beating away rapidly. He always became this way after a nightmare involving his former lover; it was a ghost that would hunt him for as long as he dared to live.

When he calmed down a bit more he looked around and judged that by the light coming through the window's gaps it was morning already. Good that it was, he never got back to sleep after these dreams anyway.

\--

After realizing he had been all out of food, Remus went to Diagon Alley to do some groceries shopping and also to grab a copy of the Daily Prophet that carried the worst piece of news since Lily and James' death - and really, that was saying a lot.

He got himself the basics such as bread and milk, it was about all he could afford anyway, and then went to sit at the bakery that had the most delicious cakes he'd ever tasted. He remember nostalgically when he used to come here with Sirius to have breakfast just because the animagus wanted to make him happy by letting him have chocolate cake in the morning. And it had been so long since he had a piece that he felt very tempted to get one, but in the end decided against it; the little money he had needed to be spared.

Instead he just asked for a glass of orange juice and drank it very slowly as he opened the paper he paid 5 knuts for. He read absent-mindedly through the main scoops, searching for the title that concerned him.

There it was: " **The Anti-Werewolves Legislation** " was written with bold prints and decorated the top of the forth page.

_"The new measures have been named this way by those who don't approve of them. They have been called exaggerated, unnecessary and discriminative. And have also been called reassuring by most of us."_

Any doubt of the prophet's view on the matter vanished at that statement. Well, Remus had never cared for their opinion anyway.

The article went on and on about reported werewolves' attacks, Greyback's alliance with the former Dark Lord, about their aggressive behavior even when not transformed. In sum: Werewolves are dangerous beasts, let's kill all of them while we can.

The lycanthrope breathed in heavily before continuing, he would so _not_ let that get to him right now. No he wouldn't, he would just dutifully read this stupid piece of trash and act as civilized as he always did. All he wanted to know was how, objectively, his routine would have to change.

The laws were different for each group of werewolves listed. Remus fell into the "Adult with no attack registered" category and before beginning to read his own restrictions his eyes lay upon those that applied to adults who had attacked: the first one was wand confiscation and he didn't dare read the rest. Shuddering he stared at his list.

_"…will have to register at the Beast Division of the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures by the end of the week, no exceptions."_

Funny, Remus would find himself muttering "beast division" in a cranky voice all throughout the day.

_"…will not be allowed to work at the following groups of establishments:_

_-Any that deals with people directly (including stores, schools, the ministry...etc)_

_-Any that require night shifts_

_-Any that work directly or indirectly with some kind of weapon…"_

The list of where he _couldn't_ work went on for what seem like forever, so Remus just skipped to the part that said " _for jobs that are safe and ministry-approved please check with the Werewolves Support Services in the Being Division of the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures._ " It also said something about any establishment wishing to acquire their own silver quill to contact the Department of Magical Law Enforcement.

When Remus was done reading all his restrictions he realized that the ministry staff should have just made a list of what he _could_ do instead of what he _couldn't_ because that would have saved a lot of paper and ink that could be used for more important things such as the latest adventures of Gilderoy Lockhart as shown on the next page.

He folded the paper with less care then he normally would have and left it on the table together with the money to pay for the juice, then he stood up and left.

He thought about going to the ministry now since he was near muggle London anyway, but decided not to as he checked the time, he'd have to go to work soon.

\--

From the store's window he could see the park across the street. He stopped dusting the shelves for a moment and straightened his eyes trying to make something of the blurs he was seeing.

He had done that every day of the past week, watch the park that is. Ever since he met Harry there he had this hope inside him that he would see the boy again, but he hadn't and was starting to think now that he never would. He wouldn't be able to explain if asked what he felt towards that boy. It was like- it was like Harry would give him a sense of purpose. Maybe his friend's son was some kind of answer to his life or maybe he was just daydreaming in the middle of work again.

"Remus?" a soft voice called from behind him making him turn around sharply.

When he did he could see a young woman standing before him. She had her hands inside the pockets of her jeans and had a warm expression on her face that made him instantly relax and show a weak smile.

"Oh, hi Lizzie" he greeted as he placed a book he had taken for dusting back to its rightful place.

"Hey, need some help?" she asked smiling and tucking a strand of loose red curl behind her ear. "Mr. Harrison said you'd be done soon"

"Ah… yeah, but it's okay, I'm just finishing up." He answered awkwardly.

She stayed quiet for a while, her bright eyes watching as the werewolf went about his duties.

"Hey, I was wondering… since you're getting off soon, would you like to do something?" the girl finally asked.

It was a good thing that Remus had his back turned to her so she didn't see him biting his lower lip as he did when he was worried about something, or how his eyes remained shut longer then normal. He had been dreading that question.

It wasn't that he didn't like her, as a friend that is, but the problem was he knew she liked him and it was not in the same way. And the poor girl had no idea who she chose to have a crush on. Aside from the fact that he had a life that she, being a muggle, couldn't even begin to comprehend there was the fact that he was a werewolf, like being a wizard wasn't enough of a shock.

And of course there was the tiny detail that he wasn't interested in women, or men for that matter. He had fallen in love once and as far as his heart was concerned, it had been one time too many.

He had, obviously, tried to get into a relationship after what happened and all, but all attempts were nothing more then frustrated ones. He'd always end up mentally comparing the person to Padfoot, they were never funny enough, clever enough, mischievous enough, gorgeous enough; Sirius enough. They didn't have his touch, his skin, his smell, his voice. Everything just felt wrong.

If the animagus needed to betray his best friends and get himself locked up in Azkaban for it, he should have remembered to vacate the "Remus' Loved One" position! But no, if Sirius wasn't going to get the lycanthrope, no one else would.

But Remus wasn't going to let it go that easy, it wasn't fair that he was the one being kept from living his life normally – or from having a life whatsoever. He figured, why not? He always kept waiting for his life to turn around, but at the same time he refused to 'try new things', maybe by daring a bit more he'd find what he was looking for.

So he turned to face her more confidently and tried to show a smile again.

"Sure, but ahm, is it ok if we just go for a walk around the park or something?" he suggested, he needed to go to the park, he had been doing so for a week and didn't want to change that now.

Her smile grew and she nodded looking very satisfied.

"Great, then I'll just take this off and grab my coat on the backroom, okay?" he said slipping out of his dark green apron.

He passed by a smiling Mr. Harrison on the way out and shook his head; the old man took too much interest in Remus' life.

"So, how's everything at the coffee shop?" he asked, attempting to start a conversation. That's where he knew her from; she worked in the shop right next to the book store.

She laughed and went on about this crazy costumer she saw today that insisted she looked like some actress just to flirt with her.

Of course Remus had no idea who said actress was, but he could sure compare Elizabeth to someone, Lily. What with her flaming red hair and bright green eyes, even their personalities were alike!

Their whole conversation around the park was mostly a monologue on the girl's part. And after going around it once they decided to sit down somewhere, the werewolf suggested the bench he always sat on. He figured that if he sat at the same place at the same time everyday, his chances of meeting Harry again were greater.

And maybe today would prove that theory to be very logical.

"Remus!" she called, clearly annoyed that he spaced out on her. He had been once again looking around hopefully to find miniature-James.

"What? Sorry, I was just…" he trailed off; he didn't know what he was doing, actually.

"I think that I'm doing all the talking" she said with a chuckle "How about, for a change, _you_ tell _me_ something about yourself."

He smiled in a guilty way, but just as he opened his mouth to say something he saw right across from him a child with the messiest hair he'd seen since James. The smile on his face now was a genuine one, and even the girl beside him noticed the changed in his expression so she instantly looked in the direction he was staring to see what had caught the man's attention like that.

That morning's decrees, last night's nightmare and his lack of sleep were all forgotten when Harry looked at him, he could tell the boy remembered him. Yep, the feeling was definitely sense of purpose.

He murmured something unintelligible to Elizabeth before standing up and approaching the little boy.

He had to say though, the kid didn't look as happy to see him as he was. And Remus didn't know if the fear he could see in his eyes were cause by his presence or by something else.

"Hi there Harry, remember me?"

The little one just nodded looking somewhat unsure.

"Came here to play again?" he asked then as he crouched down.

"Yeah" he answered after being quiet for a while. And Remus could see at the same time that the savior of the wizarding world was holding something behind his back.

"What's that you've got there?" the werewolf asked truly curious.

After a moment of hesitation, as the boy always seemed to have before he did anything, he showed him his hands and the man frowned when all he saw was a rock there. And before he could say anything a voice spoke up.

"Oh, how cute! Who's this?" Lizzie had just decided to come up behind him. How was it that she always approached him without making any noise? Honestly.

"This is Harry" he answered simply, not caring to elaborate his connection with the kid.

She looked about to say something else when an electronic sound of a cell phone rang through the moment. It was, of course, hers since Remus didn't have one and so she excused herself.

Frowning, the lycanthrope focused his attention on the boy again, or more specifically the rock on his hands.

"That's a very pretty rock, did you find it here?" he asked, not knowing what else to say. His people's skill was kind of rusted these days.

Harry nodded and at the same time wondered how Moony would react if he explained why he was holding on to this. If it were his uncle, the man would get very mad; he didn't like this kind of stuff. But maybe Moony would find it neat too.

The lady that was with his grown up friend came back from using her phone and said something before waving goodbye. Then the man turned to him again and called him to seat on the bench he had been on before.

"Do you like collecting rocks?" Remus asked, trying to start some kind of conversation again.

"I like this one" the boy said before lowering his voice a bit "this is a special rock" he told, like it was a secret.

"A special one, hmm?"

"Yeah, it goes like this" Harry threw the rock up softly "all by it self".

Remus arched an eyebrow.

"Does it really? Can you show me?" he asked, very interested and with a smile. He would see James' son's first magical attempts.

The boy just frowned, however, he didn't know how to make the rock go like that. It just did it when it wanted to. So he shrugged and told the man just that.

The werewolf was just about to tell Harry all about magic and how and why the rock could move on its own, but stopped himself.

He shouldn't do that. After all, keeping Harry with his muggle parents was also to keep him from the wizarding world until he was ready. And how magic would be reintroduced to Harry's life was perhaps an already made plan that Remus should not spoil.

"Ok, then keep it and maybe it will move again, then you can show me" he said instead.

Before he realized he was talking away with James's son. Or the closest thing to conversing one could do with a four year-old. And he could see as Harry slowly warmed up to him.

Though the boy was very shy and quiet he seemed eager to tell Remus all about the silly things a kid that age considered important. However he'd always stay away from subjects such as family, especially when the werewolf asked him if anyone came with him. So the man decided to just drop it for now, Harry would tell him about it when he felt like it.

They parted ways when it got a bit later. Remus' offer to walk him home was once again turned down and the man had to shut his common sense away so he could bear to leave the boy. Because who in their right mind would leave a four year old alone in a park at 6 something it the afternoon?

Maybe it was for the best that he did it, maybe the Remus of that moment didn't know little Harry enough to react in the right way if he were to follow the boy home or something. Or maybe he was just trying to clear his conscience.


	3. Chapter 3

Normal Text

"Conversation"

'Thoughts'

**_Letter_ **

_Flashback_

\--

He was woken up that day by a visitor he hadn't seen in, at least, a couple of months' time.

Funny, for the last few days the werewolf was getting much more sleep then usual, in fact if he had not been interrupted he'd probably sleep for even longer then the day before. If it had been _before_ he met Harry, the brown owl now pecking at his head would probably have found him awake already.

Groaning softly he stirred as though trying to rid himself of his burden, but when he realized the bird would not leave him alone he sat up and rubbed his sore head.

"I get it, I get it! You don't need to be so hostile Wanda!" he said kind of annoyed though careful not to insult her, she was a very sensitive owl. One might say she was the complete opposite of her owner, of course that person wouldn't know Poppy Pomfrey very well.

Rubbing his eyes he pet her a bit on the head before taking the parchment attached to her leg with a smile on his face.

Before opening it, however, he got up from his bed and straightened the waist band of his pajamas before walking out of the bedroom and into the kitchen, owl at his heel. There, he sat down at the table and offered the bird a piece of bread. He knew she'd stick around waiting for his reply at her master's orders since the nurse knew he didn't have an owl. The least he could do was feed her.

Finally, unrolling the parchment he smiled as he set eyes on Poppy's neat writing.

**_Dear Remus,_ **

**_It has been a long time since I last wrote you, but since the beginning of term I've been awfully busy. Children these days! Really, I think they're trying to live up to you boys! Can you imagine that this first year managed to transfigure his book into cockroaches! It does say something about his future skills, but really! Such chaos! I'm still patching up the girls that ran into the tables to, oh sorry! I always get carried away!_ **

He laughed at that; she really did! She could never write a letter in which she would not go on and on about "Children these days…".

**_But I felt like I couldn't delay this letter any longer…_ **

**_I want to know how you're doing, especially after those- those ridiculous- I don't even know what to call them! I'm trusting you already saw them, right? And I have to say I'm surprise that something like that popped up from no where right now, it's not as though we aren't living in peaceful times, there's no reason for something like that!_ **

**_If you need anything, anything at all please let me know. I can vouch for you if you need someone. If you'd like I could speak with Albus about this, he is after all the chief warlock of the Wizengamot, I'm sure he could try and get a saying in this._ **

**_But look here, Remus John Lupin! I refuse to continue speak through letters! I want you to come here so we can talk properly! And I won't take no for an answer!_ **

**_Wanda will wait for your reply, so please let me know when you can come._ **

**_Love,_ **

**_Poppy._ **

Still under the effect she always left him in, smiling like an idiot, he accioed a piece of parchment and quill and wrote her back. He didn't really set a date like she asked him because he knew she was always very busy and would probably be missing out on doing things for herself to be talking to him about problems with no solution.

After sending the bird back with his letter he got ready to go out, already remembering that today would be an unusually busy day for him what with working double shift and having that dreadful appointment at the ministry. Appointment which only brought up memories he wished to forget.

\--

_Sighing he entered the place, he even hesitated for a while before doing so, but the truth was: he needed it._

_Sure it was tough to have been working in something like the Order of the Phoenix and then suddenly having to go back to a normal life, but the war was over and with that a need for a proper job arrived. Not only that, but he had never needed to worry about money before, the Order was like a big family and in doing his part he was always taken care of._

_It's not like he wanted to sit around all day and be kept, he was a very hardworking person. It's just that having to deal with people after all he'd been through was really hard. Not only that, but his condition also put a few restrains on him._

_The place was a bit crowded and dark, much like Hogwarts' dungeon where they used to have potions class. And it should look like that, really, since this was the workspace of a potions' master._

_"Ah, hello? Anyone here?" he called softly, feeling a bit odd for just entering like this._

_It took a little while and a couple more calls, but eventually the man he was looking for appeared._

_"Hello, my apologies, I was in the back gathering some ingredients. Now, what do you need?" a middle aged man asked as he cleaned his hands in a dirty piece of cloth._

_He drew a large breath in as though collecting some courage._

_"Yes I'm here about that job as an assistant…" he trailed off._

_"Oh, is that so? Then come in, come in, follow me please" the man called after eyeing him a bit._

_They went into the back room, the werewolf guessed, the man had mentioned before. It was a smaller place only it didn't feel so crowded since the only things in here were small glass pots sitting neatly in shelves that went all the way up to the roof. Those and a small table with two chairs, but that didn't take up much space at all._

_"Right, so sit down, what's-your-name". Remus couldn't really decide if that had been a question or if the man really intended to call him that. He did as he was told anyway and waited for the man to do so too._

_"It's Remus, Remus Lupin"_

_The man didn't really ask him much about himself, he just asked him about potions and all of that sort. What you get out of an unusual mix, how to do this and that, where can you find this thing or another and he seemed impressed, though he tried not to show it much, that the young man before him answered everything smoothly - even adding an extra piece of information here and there._

_"Hmm, well you seem to be with everything fresh in your head, just came out of school, did you?" he asked with interest._

_The werewolf frowned, however, he did so_ not _look like an 18 year old! Right?_

_"No sir, I'm 21 actually" he corrected._

_"What school did you say you went to? Hogwarts was it?"_

_"Yes, I was in Gryffindor"_

_"I went there too, it was a long time ago though. I was in Ravenclaw" the potions master said with a nostalgic expression. "But anyway! Can't say I'm not impressed by your knowledge Mr. Lupin, we'll give it a try, how's that?"_

_Remus tried to force a smile, but it kind of turned into a frustrated attempt._

_"Thank you sir, I'll work very hard"_

_The man nodded and then stood up, the werewolf almost went after him, but saw that the former ravenclaw had just gotten up to get a parchment and quill._

_"Now, can you please sign your name here for me?" he asked putting both in front of the lycanthrope._

_At first he had thought that it was some kind of contract and didn't think too much of it. But when the master dropped a blank parchment in front of him, he frowned._

_"It says nothing here…" he acknowledged looking up at his soon-to-be boss. "What's this for?"_

_"Just precautions, nothing much, parchment's charmed to do background checking in Azkaban, conform your identity. Ministry asked this of everyone, so no former death-eater can go around unnoticed. Surely you have nothing to worry about?" The potions master even arched his eyebrow at him!_

_Sure! The irony! Remus, a death-eater!_

_Even a soft chuckle escaped the young man as he shook his head 'no' and got the quill lying before him. He barely lift it up to dip it in the ink when both men saw red drops reach the parchment bellow._

_Remus grit his teeth as a sharp pain spread through the palm of his hand and so he let go of the offending quill and stood up instinctively as though trying to back away from it, chair knocked back in the process. He stared at his hand that felt as though it was being burned continuously, like it had been slashed by a blade on fire and it looked that way too. Actually, it looked even worst then it felt._

_There was a thin cut that didn't really look shallow, and the skin around it was probably what made the sight worst then a normal cut, it looked like it was melting off. And of course there was only one thing that could do this to him: silver._

_He looked from the quill lying on the table, blood all over it, to the man standing before him. What on earth was going on? What kind of idea was it to make a quill using silver? Didn't quill-makers know that some people couldn't touch that? It was a very careless thing to do! Really, if it had been- then realization finally hit Remus almost as hard as the quill had hurt him._

_That's exactly what the quill had been made to do._

_Before he could even open his mouth to try and say something the man pointed out the obvious with a stern voice. "You're a werewolf"._

\--

Finally the part Remus looked forward to the most in the day came: when he left the store and crossed the street to the park.

He didn't always meet Harry there, there were some days the boy just couldn't come, but he did most of the time. And he had a feeling that this day wouldn't deny him his so awaited meeting.

The werewolf was awfully tired and if there hadn't been a _very_ good reason, he would have gone home the second he stepped out of the store. Today he had to work a double shift, from morning up until the afternoon. And that was because he promised Mr. Harrison that he'd fill in for the morning shift's girl who went on maternity leave, at least until the owner found someone else. And it's not like he minded the extra money he was getting either, the extra work was another thing however.

He and Harry had made a habit out of always waiting for each other on the very same bench they met for the first time. And the smile that appeared on the werewolf's face when he saw the messy haired kid already seated there was priceless.

"Harry!" he called as he approached, watching as the boy recognized him at once and ran to him.

"Moony!"

"Hey there little one, what have you been up to?" when the werewolf asked that the boy went into this whole tale about what he had done up until that time.

Remember Remus' people skills, or lack thereof? That had changed too, either that or Harry was too easy to please and talk to. There were topics that were still a taboo though, like magic and family.

What they shared tended to be a lot about the present and silly superficial things. It seemed sometimes like Harry was an angel. An angel that would just appear out of nowhere at the same time every day, make Remus' life meaningful and then disappear off to heaven without leaving a trace. It was like the boy only existed in that moment and Remus was starting to feel awful about it.

The thing was, the werewolf had this feeling that there was something wrong. He couldn't quite put his finger on it, but something made him uneasy. Maybe it was the fact that Harry was too small, or too quiet, or even too polite for his age. Or how he didn't seem to own a piece of clothing that fit him, how he always seemed to jump at the mention of food, and specially how he always came to the park alone despite his age.

And the lycanthrope didn't want to approach the boy about it out of fear that Harry would distance himself from him.

Remus just could not bear to lose him.

It was pure selfishness! He'd rather have the boy, even in pieces, then not have him at all. Of course he hadn't realized his egoistic actions until that day, when even more unsettling puzzle pieces would make themselves known.

He had bought Harry and himself some ice cream; Friday was always a good reason to have some after all. And they were both seated on the grass watching as a dog tried to scare away the pigeons that were gathering near the fountain and its owner was just trying to get it back on its leash.

"I like doggies!" the boy-who-lived exclaimed happily, highly entertained by the silly animal.

Remus smiled kind of nostalgically.

"Yeah, I like dogs too, Harry" he agreed in a soft voice.

They spent a few minutes like that while they finished their ice cream cones and then became silent. It was funny how it was always a comfortable one when shared between them.

The werewolf watched each and every expression the child made as he played with the grass and rocks around them. After all, to a parent every little ordinary thing their children did was something to drool over, that's how Remus felt at that moment, or maybe that's what he wished he was anyway.

And it was in watching Harry that he noticed the unusual color that covered the boy's skin around the back of his neck. Because his shirt was too big, the collar showed much more than it should.

He frowned at once, feeling a stone drop in his stomach, the bad feeling was back again.

"Harry, what's this on neck? That's a pretty ugly bruise" he said before he could help himself, touching him softly.

The boy-who-lived looked up from where he was watching an ant dragging food and he had the same fearful expression he used to carry two weeks ago when they first met here.

"I- I don't know"

That look on the boy's face hurt in a place Remus didn't even know existed. He decided then that he would do what ever it was he could to never see Harry look scared like that again.

"You can talk to me little one, don't you wanna tell me about it?" he asked in a soft voice.

James's son just shook his head 'no', keeping his face down and mumbling something as he went back to playing with the grass around him.

"The cat got your tongue now, has it? Won't you talk to me?"

That got no verbal response either, the child just shrugged.

But if Harry thought he'd back off by being offered the silence treatment he had another thing coming.

"Are you hurt?"

"No" he finally said.

"Hey, look at me" he touched the boy's chin softly "You got hurt playing? How did this happen?"

"I fell down" he said lamely. Really, there was only so much a four-year-old could do to try and fool an adult.

"Doesn't really look like a fall, Harry" Remus said more firmly, he would not back down, he would not be selfish! "You know you can tell me anything right? I can keep a secret if you want".

The boy felt almost like he was being seduced into speaking. When he was with Moony, when he saw Moony's gentle eyes, he always thought he could say anything. And for a second he opened his mouth. He really was going to say something, but then shook his head 'no'.

"I- I have to go home" he said as he tried to stand up to leave. He had to get away from this person who almost made him do the unthinkable.

After all, he couldn't tell. Ever.

"No, wait" the werewolf pleaded "let me come with you then, let me take you home just this once"

This time Harry did stand up "Auntie would get mad" he said as he always did "She told me not to talk to strangers"

Ouch. See, now that hurt.

At the same time, however, when the boy said that, it made Remus feel unsure again. Maybe he _was_ overreacting. After all, his aunt _should_ get mad if he spoke to strangers! She should get mad if he disobeyed. Specially when talking to a stranger could mean talking to a death eater or who knows what else.

'But that doesn't explain the bruise' he thought to himself 'nor does it explain why he's always alone'.

He refused to be fooled any longer by the child's lies.

"Harry, your aunt, when she gets mad, what does she do?" he asked as they both stood under the setting sun "Does she put you on a time-out? Does she say bad things?" He looked at the boy meaningfully before continuing "Does she hurt you, Harry?"

The boy visually panicked.

Why was Moony asking him this? Moony was his friend! He wasn't supposed to get him into trouble! And by asking those questions he'd definitely get him punished later.

"No! My auntie and uncle are nice people!" he yelled at him, cheeks flushed and tearful eyes.

Remus sighed, this wasn't getting them anywhere.

Instead of trying to squeeze answers out of the boy he nodded and patted the boy's head. "Ok Harry, I'm sorry I asked so many questions ok? I'm worried about you, that's all. Make sure to ask your aunt to take care of that ok?" he said, going back to smiling like he usually did near the boy.

The little one however didn't know if he should feel glad or disappointed at the outcome, but either way he just nodded in acknowledgment and ran along the path he usually went to.

If it had been any other day Remus might just have given up, but not today. And so, forgetting his appointment at the ministry's 'Beast Division' he damned it all to hell and just waited until the boy was out of sight before he too ran.

He would take matters into his own hands.


	4. Chapter 4

It was dark, there were no windows around and the iron bars only allowed him to see an equally dark corridor. The air was as damp as the walls that seemed to be always dripping, he was never sure if that was really water, never dared touch it to check either. Looking around, no matter at what time, he couldn't tell if it was night or day, he was always in that semi-darkness.

He woke up and went to sleep at irregular times like a dog that had nothing to do but mope around all day. Sometimes he stood up to move around, as though checking if his muscles still responded - they did, unfortunately. He had more than once wished for them to stop.

For everything to stop.

No matter if he had his eyes opened or closed, if he could physically hear and see or not. He'd always see _them_ , they'd always yell at him, they'd always accuse him. They'd always be right.

He had been sentenced to live in a state of mind in which present and past would just mix into a morbid reality. A life in which your nightmares walked right beside you day and night and your greatest fears were shoved in your face. They wrapped themselves around your soul sucking out any sort of happiness you might have felt during the sorry existence you now regretted having.

He'd yell in frustration for being kept in such a claustrophobic place, he'd try to break the walls. He would try and run away from the ghosts of his past, he'd try to beg, he'd cry and scream in pain and he'd always be ignored.

This was the shadow of a life offered to someone that dared do something horrible enough to get them sent to Azkaban. And was now the life of one Sirius Black.

The only thing preventing that man from taking for the first time in his life, though some would disagree this was a fact, a life – his own – was the knowledge that he was innocent. It wasn't a thought that could be taken away since it was not a happy memory, it was just a fact: He had _not_ committed the murders that got him sent here.

Actually, what kept him alive more specifically was the fact that he needed someone to acknowledge his innocence before he could finally give into what he had wished for the most since he first arrived here, death.

Of course it wasn't just anyone, but the person he loved the most, though he didn't quite remember what having that feeling was like anymore.

He couldn't remember a single happy moment he had shared with his lover, but he knew he loved him, that knowledge even the dementors could not take away. He'd see Remus crying, fighting with him, he'd see as he let him down, as he betrayed him at the willow incident, and most of all he'd see the werewolf's accusing eyes full of pain at the time of his arrest. But that was just the thing, Remus was mostly all he saw, thought and had nightmares about.

That day, or night, was no different that any other, he was against the wall curled up so he took up the least space possible, trying to block the ice cold that the dementors gave off as he watched his sixteen year old self get beaten by his father.

See, this was the thing about staying around dementors for too long, you started to not only relieve your worst memories, but also see them right before your eyes as though they were really there.

In the beginning he had been deeply wounded by having to see the worst moments of his life played over and over again, however it became so frequent he just tried to pay no mind to them at all. After all, he knew he couldn't change a thing.

Ignoring his father's voice he looked to his right, where the bars of his cell stood, and listened with close attention, someone was coming this way.

\--

With his mind set on what he had to do he took out his wand and gripped it tightly as he pointed it at himself and murmured "Delusio". Immediately, he felt as though an egg had cracked over his head, its contents dropping down onto his hair and the rest of his body.

When he lifted his hand to cast the second charm he noticed that his wand looked as though it was floating in mid-air. But if one looked closely, very closely they'd be able to see the faintest, almost non-existent, outline of his body.

"Silencio" he said then, looking especially at his feet. He should not only be invisible, but also silent. After all, he was going to follow Harry home and the boy should not catch him doing it.

As fast as he had gotten there he left again, running in the direction the boy-who-lived always went to. He heard his feet make no noise as he ran and was filled with confidence that he'd succeed.

Catching up with his friend's son was easier then he had thought, apparently the boy wasn't in much of a hurry to get home. After walking a fair amount of time Remus was left frowning. He had thought Harry's house ought to be really close to the park since the boy always walked there and especially because he did it by himself.

When the werewolf was about to conclude that Harry surely had some kind of plan to walk around aimlessly all day, the boy finally took interest in one of the houses and started heading its way.

Remus was very puzzled when he noticed that there was a park just down the street. Before he could let himself come up with a bunch of "what if"s he shook his head 'no' and remembered he had to keep close to Harry, otherwise he might not manage to get inside the house.

So he followed the boy to the back yard where the former quietly opened the door and much to Remus' lack of luck opened it only the necessary for a four-year-old to pass. Resulting in the werewolf having to risk being discovered by opening the door wider then it had been. Luckily, however, the boy seemed to pay no mind to that.

Right, now what?

"Boy, is that you?" a high pitched voice asked from a hallway that led out of the kitchen, the sound of footsteps approaching. "Did you lock the door?"

"Yes, Aunt Petunia" he answered softly, but then turned around to get the lock. "It's locked" he announced then.

Remus leaned back on the kitchen counter as though he was an audience to some show. And yeah, he did expect to see something that would either confirm or put a stop to the suspicions he had.

The woman finally appeared at the door and the werewolf frowned upon seeing her. She was the rude horse-necked woman that visited the bookstore a couple of weeks ago!

"I made chocolate cake" she announced putting her hands on her hips.

The lycanthrope smiled, that was nice of her, he knew how much Harry liked chocolate. But he was confused by the child's lack of interest over what had just been offered. He never denied the goods Remus offered him before, why would he do that now? He even looked as though he had been offered something bad.

Looking at the floor the boy-who-lived waited for his aunt to go on, he knew what she would say.

"So go on and wash the pans and plates already, I don't want a mess while I'm making dinner" she ordered with an arrogant kind of tone. "And don't break anything!"

The werewolf bit his lower lip, unsure of what to think.

'That doesn't really mean anything, I mean, it's normal for kids to help out at home, right?' he asked himself, not wanting to cloud his judgment with his over-protective feelings. But then he shook his head no, it wasn’t his feelings speaking. Harry was four! He shouldn't be doing any kind of chores yet; all he should be doing was picking up after himself or putting away his toys or something.

He watched as the messy haired kid climbed onto a stool by the sink and struggled to keep hold of the heavy pans as he tried to wash them the best he could. The werewolf could barely stand watching and not saying anything. He wanted to run up to Harry grab the kid and run somewhere far away from these people.

When the boy finally finished he dried his hands on the towel by his side and climbed off the stool again. "It's all done, auntie" he said quietly.

She came back through the hall she had previously disappeared to and checked if the job had indeed been done before putting on her apron. "Then go wash up so you don't get the house dirty, I just cleaned it. And then into your cupboard! I don't want to hear any noise!" she stated clearly.

The boy-who-lived nodded and obediently went up the stairs to the bathroom, Remus imagined, as the werewolf followed right behind, at the same time wondering what the woman had meant about "Harry's cupboard". When the boy entered the loo, however, Remus decided to leave him to his business and instead he chose to look around that floor.

\--

"…yes, of course!" a man's voice said as the footsteps became louder. "Now could you ask them not to stand so close?"

"That's the thing about them beasts, ye see, they don't do nothin' ye tell them. Have a mind of their own, they do." A second voice Sirius knew all too well sounded right after. "At least ye get done here and leave" both men finally could be seen as they walked slowly past the animagus' cell, a couple of dementors trailing behind them "…them prisoners, they got nowhere to run to" the guard said looking briefly at Sirius.

They stopped just before they got out of sight, and by so leaving the couple of dementors right in front of his cell. He didn't really care though, he had nothing more to give, they had already taken it all away.

The one and only human guard of Azkaban kept on talking to the man that, Sirius guessed, was a law wizard trying to work on a probably helpless case. See, people didn't get chucked in Azkaban for nothing, they only got sent there for crimes like murder, torture and the likes. And only when it was proven incontrovertibly in a trial that they had really committed said crimes.

Of course dark times call upon drastic measures and so during the war a lot of people got sent there without a trial, Sirius had been one of them and he was one of the few left alive. People didn't really last much in Azkaban.

"Ah, Mr. Connel, I hope you've packed your stuff" the man said in an almost optimistic voice. How one could do that in here was a mystery to Sirius. "I have uncovered some evidence from the crim-"

Then the animagus tuned them out, he didn't care how someone _else_ would be freed, he cared about how _he_ could possibly find his way out.

He watched almost with amusement as the dementors moved around causing the law wizard to be very uncomfortable - he kept twisting the news paper he had in hands. But the nearly cheerful feeling was enough to change the dementors' attention to himself and suddenly he had no idea what he had been finding comical.

The visit didn't take long which was no surprise, every time someone showed up around here was for a short period of time, after all the dementors' effects were all too great. As they were leaving, the human guard leading, the law wizard watched with disgust as a cockroach the size of a fist climbed up the damp stone wall. And while making a face, he didn't even think before throwing the rolled newspaper over it full force and then he went on murmuring about something and caught up with the other man right away.

Sirius, like every other person, thought those disgusting little bugs would do the world a big favor by reaching extinction. But at that moment he almost mourned over his cell mate's death, after all it had brought him something he almost never had: a glimpse of the outside world.

It had only happened twice or thrice during his stay here, someone forgetting a newspaper, that is. But when they did he made the best of it, it was after all a way to pass the time which he unfortunately had a lot of. But he had no idea that the contents of this daily prophet would light something inside of him that for a long time had been asleep, the urge to fight.

\--

At the Dursley's household three people ate their dinner and talked about random things, like how their new neighbor's car was too old, or how his daughter came home much later then they would approve.

At the same time, locked up in a cupboard was a starving child, and pacing up and down the hall was a full grown werewolf having a hard time deciding whose throat he wanted to rip off first.

Remus was completely infuriated and he looked like a caged animal moving around like that. He could not stand it! He was angry at himself for not following the boy sooner and he was filled with murderous impulses when he thought of the two poor excuses of human beings stuffing themselves in the next room. He wanted to waltz into the dining room and hex them all into oblivion.

Just as he was about to do that, or so he had decided, a child's voice cut through the silence. And it was screaming.

The Dursleys heard it too, he noticed, but they didn't look much surprise to be hearing it. They went back to eating however like nothing had happened, but when it sounded the second time Vernon Dursley slammed his fist down on the table and then stood up coming towards Remus.

Of course it was not the werewolf he wanted to reach, but the cupboard under the stairs. And when he did, he opened the door with excessive force and dragged out a crying Harry by the upper arm.

"What have I told you about screaming, boy?!" he asked, his face become more purple by the moment. "You want the neighbors to hear, do you?!"

"Don't touch him!" the werewolf yelled, or at least he tried to, but obviously no sound came out of his mouth "Damn it!" he cursed and hit the wall in frustration.

"I- I'm sorry" the boy tried, he looked terrified both by his fear of this man and the other one that haunted him in his sleep "I had a bad drea-"

"I don't care about that rubbish! You're always trying to call attention to yourself" His uncle accused shaking Harry while still keeping hold on his arms. "No good freak" he said in an almost murmur.

Remus felt his blood boil and feelings that he knew belonged not to him but to the wolf inside of him surfaced. He wanted to rip a piece of the man's flesh with his bare hands, he wanted to sink his fangs at him, make him suffer!

Drawing a huge breath he tried to calm down, letting his animal instincts take over was the last thing he needed right now. And he was in no state of mind to do non verbal spells so he had to concentrate to try and cast at least one to get his voice back and then he'd hex that whale of a man in all fashions he knew!

'Finite Incantatem' he thought, but the spell didn't drop, his attention was still elsewhere.

He breathed in heavily again trying to ignore somehow that Harry was being mistreated in front of him. He cleared his mind as much as he could and closed his eyes. Pointing his wand at himself he thought clearly "Finite Incantatem".

Both silencing and disillusionment charm ceased and as such Dursley stopped his throwing of Harry back into the cupboard and watched eyes-wide as the werewolf appeared out of no where.

"Let. Go. Of. Him." Remus ordered through gritted teeth, his voice sounded very uncharacteristic, it even made Harry scared.

Having a wand pointed at your face like that, especially when it was held by someone with such murderous eyes, really made you follow orders without thinking twice, even if you didn't know what a wand was. So Vernon let go of the boy at once and started to back off slowly. Harry just stood there frighten and unsure which of the adults was the scariest right now.

"Who- Who the hell are you? Y-you can't come into my house like this!" Vernon shouted, though his voice did waver a bit.

For an instant Remus was so blinded by rage that he pointed to the man and started saying "Cruc-" luckily he stopped when he thought of Azkaban. He honestly believed it'd be worth it, but if he did get sent there Harry would have no one to take him away from these people.

"How dare you?!" he asked with venom glaring daggers at the man "You poor excuse of a human being, how I wish I could just-" going down that path again, no good. "Control yourself. Calm down" the werewolf whispered to himself, he could not loose his mind right now, he just couldn't.

Instead of hexing the life out of this man he turned to the boy that was still static by the door and tried to smile.

"Come with me Harry" he said offering his hand "Let's get out of here".

The boy, however, just looked lost. Remus had shouted just like his uncle used to do. Would he hurt him too? When around people, his uncle pretended to be nice too. Did that mean that behind closed door he and Moony were the same?

"Stay where you are boy! You're not going with that freak!" Vernon ordered, now more confident that the stranger wouldn't attack him.

Harry looked back and forth from his uncle to Moony unable to decide. Who should he listen to?

"Harry, please believe me, little one. I don't want you to get hurt anymore, come with me and you never have to be near these people again! Trust me" he asked, now being able to show his kind eyes and half a smile.

When the boy-who-lived saw that expression, he knew what the right thing to do was. And so he took the werewolf's hand.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The disillusionment charm's incantation is never mentioned in the series, so I just made one up.


	5. Chapter 5

The boy kept quiet. He was afraid Remus was still mad at him, so he tried to keep as invisible as he could; it was what he used to do if his uncle was mad at him.

"Harry?" the werewolf asked in a soft voice, he didn't know how to approach the boy anymore "Harry, I'm sorry" was all he managed to say as they walked slowly past the wards around his house.

They had just apparated to his place, which was of course the only place he could have taken the boy to. It was as shabby and old as the clothes he wore and he didn't have much to offer, but he'd do all in his power to take care of Harry until he was sure of what to do next.

They entered the house through the kitchen door and Remus asked the boy to wait for him on one of the chairs. "I'll be right back" he said as he left for the stairs and lit up the place in the process.

It was very cold that day; 'Fall shouldn't be this cold' the werewolf thought a he reached his room. He had watched as Harry shivered all through their long walk; one could only apparate to outside Remus' wards, and the limit was a bit far from the house itself – full moon precautions, you see. So now he was looking for something warmer to dress the boy in. The clothes the muggles had given him could barely protect him against a summer breeze!

Since the werewolf didn't own much of anything, he had to transfigure one of his very few robes , the best one he could find, into two small jumpers. He left one on his bed and took the other one with him back downstairs.

"You cold, Harry?" he asked as he appeared at the kitchen with an almost-smile on his face.

But the four-year-old barely looked at him. In fact, he kept staring at the floor and playing with his hands.

Biting his lower lip, he always used to do this when unsure of something or nervous, Remus clutched the pullover in his hand and approached Harry, kneeling down before the boy so they were now at eye level.

"Are you upset?" he asked softly trying to get the boy to look at him, it really hurt him to see that Harry was afraid of him. "Are you mad at me? It's ok to be mad, you know?" he said as he tentatively touched the kid's hair.

Finally the boy-who-lived looked up and he had tears in his eyes.

"I made Moony angry and my uncle is angry too, he'll-"

"He won't do anything" Remus assured with a tone that left no room for doubt "Your uncle is never gonna hurt you again, no one will. I'll protect you, little one" he said, now being able to show a genuine smile "And I'm not angry at you, you have done nothing wrong." He stated firmly "I'm angry at your uncle, what he did to you was not right. I need you to understand that, Harry; he is a very bad man. You're not, you're a good boy and I love you very, very much" he finished, realizing at the same time that he hadn't spoken those three words in years.

Though Harry still looked a bit uncertain, he visually relaxed and managed to smile back, rubbing his wet eyes with the back of his hand.

"Now, wanna put this on? It's kind of chilly isn't it?"

Harry nodded and lifted his arms so Remus could put the jumper over his head.

Feeling a bit more assured, the werewolf then stood up and looked around the kitchen before resting his eyes on the boy again.

"Ah, you must be hungry, right? I'll make you something" he said trying to think of what exactly he had to offer. "There are no hot dogs or ice creams here, but I can try and make something really nice ok? And also, there's chocolate cake!" he announced like it was a secret.

Earlier that day he had picked up a piece of chocolate cake from the bakery he loved. But really, he'd give up all the chocolate in the world if that would make Harry happy. The messy haired child had always seemed so eager when the subject had been food and now Remus knew why.

There wasn't much around and so the werewolf just made four sandwiches and hoped they tasted as good as they did back when he used to cook regularly. He sat right across from Harry and put the plate between the two, but before he even got himself one he realized he hadn't brought anything to drink. After looking around, he realized that all he had was some milk, it would have to do.

Placing it on the table and also remembering to bring the cake, he sat back down again.

Harry hadn't even moved and was surely not eating anything; he was just staring at the food and almost drooling too.

"Here Harry, grab one of these, I'm sure they taste well." Remus said as he handed the boy one of the sandwiches. "You can eat as much as you want! You can get seconds, thirds, and fourths!"

Politely, the boy bit at his food slowly and kept his head down watching intently so not to drop any crumbs on the table.

"Don't you like chicken sandwiches? I could make, err, there's some cheese too" Remus tried, but at the same time he felt something he never had before; a need to know he could provide for someone. He did not want to fail Harry, it was no use saving the boy from the Dursleys only to have him starve to death.

"It's really yummy!" Harry said at once, and it was true.

Eventually he lost his shyness and began to eat normally, making the werewolf more than happy. He ate his whole sandwich and half the piece of the chocolate cake before announcing he was full. And Remus could tell that he really meant it because, really, it had been enough food for a boy his age.

\--

He reread the headline and first paragraph over and over again; one could probably say he was overreacting, what with the hate he felt at the moment, but really they knew nothing of his former life outside these walls.

In a strange way it was like he felt personally offended by the rules laid upon the wizarding world, but any one person would too in his case, if their (ex) lover was a werewolf.

All thoughts and wants he had felt during the first months here came back at that moment. His instincts to protect the ones he loved were stirring his marauder spirit into coming up with something clever enough to get him out of here.

And surely, if one can leave McGonagall's room during detention without being caught, that person could easily fool a few hundred dementors, right?

\--

He sighed heavily and concluded with guilt that he had no idea what the hell he was going to do.

Sure, he still thought he had done what he should have, taking Harry away from those awful muggles, but what now? He had a job and a not very well paid one at that. Muggle money became almost no wizarding money in the exchange, and having a job meant he would be away for at least the entire afternoon, not to mention that now he had to provide for two people instead of one, which would probably translate into picking up even more hours.

How would he ever take care of Harry? He couldn't leave the boy with anyone, he had just -in legal terms- kidnapped the child and it wasn't as though he could just ask someone to baby sit a boy with a lighting bolt scar on his forehead and not need to explain anything. He was in deep, deep trouble and for the second time in his life he felt so lost he could almost declare his defeat.

'I could take him to work with me, Mr. Harrison would understand. I mean, I could just…' he reasoned as he sat in the kitchen's chair while the center of his issues slept upstairs.

'But then the muggles would come looking for me, if they already haven't! They know where I work'

He thought about all the options and they all seemed completely unfeasible: he couldn't leave Harry alone and at the same time he couldn't starve the boy to death by quitting his work, he couldn't ask for anyone's help, he was positively lost.

Then he thought about Poppy. He was sure she would flood him with questions, but she'd eventually understand his reasons, but would she go as far as helping him? It could bring her really big problems. If she lost her job at Hogwarts… she lived there after all. He just couldn't risk it, he'd ruin her life.

An almost unconscious and involuntary thought crossed his mind: Sirius.

He'd help him, hell, he'd have gotten Harry out of there even sooner, his Sirius that is, not the traitor one of course.

This entire situation was the traitor's fault! If he hadn't handed Lily and James over to Voldemort, both would still be alive and Harry wouldn't have been with the muggles and Remus would surely not be in this situation!

Along with those thoughts came one that seemed like an unacceptable resolution to this whole thing. The same way Sirius had been the cause of this he could also be, in a way, its solution. And it was very simple; all came down to three numbers: 711.

Remus had never dared to turn to the vault before. He had gotten down and dirty, into the muggle world and all, but he never touched any of it. Yet right now he felt as though it could be the only solution, getting money from Sirius' vault, that is.

He bit his lower lip in deep thought. Though it'd hurt all his principles to do it, he wouldn't be doing it for himself, it'd be for Harry!

He'd have to face his ghosts by reaching into the box he had never wanted to open again to get the key, oh the joy.

'I should probably talk to Dum-' he couldn't even finish his thoughts when he heard a far away voice scream "NO!"

He bolted up from his chair and in a dash he ran up the stairs two steps at a time. He had heard a scream just like this earlier that day and he had to say it made him feel just as bad now as it had then.

By entering the room he saw a crying Harry in the semi-darkness and rushed to the boy, at the same time lighting up the room.

"Harry, what's wrong?" he asked worried and realized he hadn't asked the boy about what his nightmare had been before.

The boy, Remus noticed, didn't look much aware of his surroundings right now. Whatever it was he saw in his dreams, it made him really disoriented, so much so that the boy-who-lived stared at him with wide teary eyes and tried to put a distance between them.

"I'm sorry, I'll be quiet! I'll be a good boy" he promised as though the werewolf had threatened him. Force of habit, Remus guessed darkly.

"Hey, it's ok, little one. It's me, Moony. I'm not gonna hurt you" he assured as he ran his fingers through the boy's messy locks and wiped his tears away. "Wanna tell me what's wrong? Did you have a bad dream?" he asked soothingly, sitting beside the four-year-old.

The child looked up at him with those bright green eyes and relaxed as though the input of his surroundings only just came back to him.

"There's a green light, then a lady screams! A mean person is always laughing, it's so scary!" he told the man, in an almost desperate tone.

It didn't take Remus more then a second to realize what that meant. Harry was seeing the night Lily and James had died. Even he was taken aback for a moment before using his most convincing tone to say "It was only a dream. Dreams can't hurt you, Harry. Nothing bad is gonna happen to you, I promise."

As he hugged him he felt the kid wrap himself around him in return and so the lycanthrope kept whispering soothing things into his ear as he rocked him softly back and forth trying to lure him into sleep again. And when the boy did, or so Remus thought, he tried lying the boy back down on his bed. Harry, however, he wouldn't let go.

Instead, with a very sleepy voice, the boy whispered "No, stay here, daddy"

Even though Remus was very aware of Harry's near unconscious state and the fact that he was fantasizing James' figure in his head, he smiled at being called that.

And so with a very warm feeling in his heart and a reassurance that he had done the right thing, the werewolf chose to curl up with his, almost, godson and get some sleep for the day.

\--

Not that many hours later, but many, many miles away a new day would bring very unsettling news to an old castle that housed a well respected school of witchcraft and wizardry.

It was barely nine o'clock and the headmaster of Hogwarts walked calmly down the halls. He hummed softly to himself and watched with a sparkle on his eyes as students from all years and houses started heading towards the quidditch pitch. See, breakfast had just ended and though there was no game of such sport about to start, greater thing were going to be held at school that day.

It was something like the triwizard tournament, but a bit smaller; however it was still a tournament, only it was briefer and less dangerous. Still, students from other schools came to stay for a month's time and the media's attention was caught, it was a huge event.

Instead of a representative from each school, there were groups formed of five players for each. And the tasks were more numerous and included not only practical ones but also theoretical knowledge tests, treasure hunts and the like. The teachers would all say it was a far healthier and pleasurable experience compared to the triwizard tournament. Gryffindors, however, would very much disagree.

Dumbledore kept walking slowly, hands behind his back, towards the quidditch pitch. It was still very early and he could take his time.

"Professor Dumbledore! Professor Dumbledore!" a hufflepuff called as he approached the man at full speed "Profe-"

"Yes Mr. Collin? Is there something the matter?" he asked, finding the boy's continuous calling of his name amusing.

"It's professor McGonagall sir, she is looking for you and she looks very, I don't know, I think something serious happened. I mean, I heard people died in these tournaments, but you don't think-" the boy kept saying almost non stop till he was interrupted.

"Is she? Thank you for letting me know. Now, Mr. Collin, don't go conjecturing mortal consequences yet, the tournament has yet to start. I'd rush if I were you, or all the good sits will be taken" he said with a smile.

Mumbling something like "Oh, that's right" the kid skipped along.

And before the headmaster could even start to look for the transfiguration teacher, three silver ghostly cats reached him. A voice that seemed to come from them said very specifically "Come quickly, by the willow" before all the felines dissipated like smoke.

A patronus message sent inside a school meant something was definitely wrong.

He didn't take very long to get to the whomping willow; it was a fine place for a conversation, as no one dared get close to it.

Minerva McGonagall didn't beat around the bush, didn't even greet him, she just out-right said it "Figg came to me through floo this morning, Harry's gone"

If Dumbledore felt taken aback he didn't show it, instead he tapped his foot twice on the ground before asking "I presume no one else knows about this?"

"No, of course not, you needed to hear of it first. I asked her not to speak about it with anyone else

"I wonder what this means Minerva. You do realize that th-"

"I cannot even imagine what this could mean. We have to call a search party!"

"Precisely. I will alert the Order. And let us hope this is just a muggle-related issue with a simple resolution"

As they arranged their plans, neither noticed the strange little beetle that lurked around as though interested on what they had to say.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The tournament is really just an excuse to have a certain beetle flying around.


	6. Chapter 6

It would be nothing like he had thought; he'd look back and realize that he had done much harder things in the past. The task was nowhere near a complex as so many others he had accomplished before in his life.

But he didn't know this just yet.

Since he couldn't tell night from day he couldn't rely on that information to make his plan. Of course, even if he had known something like that it wouldn't have been of much use, after all, dementors didn't have human needs. They didn't sleep.

But still, he had two points in his favor. One was the fact that dementors only cared about happy feelings and he had something he could think about all throughout the execution of his plan that wouldn't bring attention to himself- the fact that he was innocent.

And the second point, of course, was the greatest card up his sleeve: Padfoot. See, that's the thing about dementors and their need for _human_ emotions.

So he waited.

At first he wasn't sure what he was waiting for, but it was when the guard came around to leave half-full plates of cold food by each cell that he realized it. That was the only time in the day the man came, except when there were visitors, and he always looked so tired that Sirius would guess he was heading straight home. And that's exactly what he needed right now, for the man to leave.

Time seemed to be passing by slower; his heart beat rapidly in anticipation as he watched the man walking about like he had not a care in the world -or hundreds of dementors around him, for that matter. And it seemed to take forever for the man to leave and even longer for Sirius to judge that enough time had passed and it was safe for him to carry out his plan.

'Plan' might actually be an overstatement. He could not, in his current state, actually formulate something complex and foolproof.

So with determination on his mind and the advantage of his skeleton-like body a quiet dog slipped pass bars and began the long journey to retrieve all that he had lost.

\--

"Have you heard it?! They say you-know-who's back!"

"Harry Potter was captured by death eaters! They're saying they killed his whole family"

"Black's said to have plotted the whole thing, from inside Azkaban!"

These were the nicest and most optimistic things you would hear if you walked around wizarding London that morning.

It was not every day, after all, that the world's saviors was mysteriously kidnapped and at the same time there was the first ever breakout from the most heavily guarded facility in the magic world. People were talking chaos already; every one was just waiting for all hell to break loose and the second war to start at any second.

Of course each person added their own bit to the story and it had become this unreal tale with loads of murders and blood everywhere. You wouldn't crucify their paranoia, however, if you had read that morning's article by Rita Skeeter.

The title spoke of Harry's kidnap very clearly, no need for catches, the meaning itself caused enough impact on its own. And for the first time ever the daily prophet had two huge scoops fighting for its front page. They ended up sharing the most chaos-inducing title in the history of the publication: **Harry Potter Kidnapped! Sirius Black Out Of Azkaban! A New War On Our Hands?!** But it was, actually, throughout the text that things got a little -ok, a lot- out of hand.

It went on about how this was a result of months and months of planning, how the death eaters were now ready to get their revenge on their master's death. And for said revenge they had managed to free the lord's right hand man to lead the revolution. It also spoke of the high probability of Harry's gruesome death, infiltrated death eaters at the ministry and a strong werewolf alliance built with the dark forces in response to the recently established laws.

Needless to say, the minister was not happy to have to find out about all of this from a newspaper. He was even less happy to have to control a case of generalized hysteria.

Everywhere, people were calling in sick, transactions were stopped, stores closed doors and it didn't look like it would stop anytime soon.

And see, Fudge had a funny way of coping with things- he found someone he could blame as fast as he could. And so he was at that moment pacing up and down his office restlessly waiting for anyone who might give him straight answers about at least one of the issues at hand.

And he didn't wait long, because soon the fireplace in his office lit up and from green flames an old bespectacled man appeared and, in contrast, he looked very calm.

"Dumbledore, what is the meaning of this?" the man demanded angrily at once "When I went to bed last night I left the wizarding world in peace! How could it have become so chaotic in so little time? I thought the boy was well protected? You assured me that he-"

"Now Cornelius, I placed him in the safest environment we could possibly provide. And we do not know yet if this has any connection with the death eaters or any wizard at all."

"You're saying Harry Potter was kidnapped by a muggle? Under all this watch?"

"I'm saying we shouldn't get ahead of ourselves and start speculating about facts we aren't sure of" the headmaster said calmly

"And what do you suggest? We wait for Black to find him? Because if you have not heard, we've had our first breakout ever!" Lowering his voice he started mumbling to himself about his luck.

"Now, I'm sure none of us want that. And that's why I ask you to direct the Aurors' attention to finding mister Black and stopping whatever plan he means to carry out, while I contact Harry's relatives about his whereabouts." he said with the voice of a natural leader; his voice gave no room for doubts.

Fudge looked awfully impatient as he kept walking up and down "I'll send them after him, but if the boy-who-lived has really been kidnapped by their bunch..."

"Then even I will see to it personally that they're hunt down and stopped" he said with a flicker in his eyes that were, for a second, very intimidating.  
\--

He had not walked down that path for years, three to be exact, when he'd left the savior of the wizarding world on his muggle relatives' doorstep. Slowly, he reached number four of Privet Drive and saw the lights inside indicating the activities of its occupants.

He rang the doorbell like the action was amusing and patiently waited to be welcomed in.

A frowning Petunia opened the door; a mix of resentment, fear and, perhaps surprisingly, respect was on her face. However, she didn't look particularly surprised.

"Why, good evening, Petunia. I'm sorry to come unannounced, but I'm sure you're just as eager as I am to find your missing family member."

She looked almost offended to hear such thing and looked at him skeptically.

"Right, now, why don't I come inside? I'm sure you'd have invited me if you were to find your voice, but I realize you are still in a bit of a shock. Still, it's kind of chilly outside, don't you think?" he said, his eyes twinkling as he entered.

Petunia dared to say nothing, nor did she protest when he entered her house, she knew very well what he was here for, and would tell him specifically what she knew: nothing.

Dumbledore accepted her unwilling invitation to sit on the couch and spent no more time before getting to the point.

"It became my knowledge, not only mine unfortunately, that Harry has gone missing. In fact I believe he was taken, if my calculations are correct, the day before yesterday. And I wonder how that could have happened under your very careful watch." he asked in a way that'd leave one feeling very, very uncomfortable.

"It was not my fault, if that's what you're implying!" Petunia said in a high pitched voice, finally speaking up "He was just taken! I wasn't even here! It was a freak like the lot of hers! He came in here and took the boy! We can't even have a quiet dinner at our home..." she mumbled that last part with venom.

"A man, you say? And you saw him?" the man asked as he ignored completely her rude remarks.

She tapped her foot uncomfortably on the floor "I didn't see him, Vernon did. He was checking up on the boy when this man appeared out of nowhere! He even threatened him! The absurdity of it all!"

"Awful it must have been" Dumbledore nodded "Is your husband home? It'd be wonderful if he could tell me what the man looked like and what he said"

She tighten her lips together just like McGonagall used to do when a student cause a great deal of trouble.

"No, he's at work, and I know what the man looked like. A criminal, that's what! We know him from the bookstore, Vernon recognized him. How could he not, I mean, after all the man had these horrible scars over his face!" she made a disgusted expression "A hooligan I tell you, he looked like he dressed himself from the rubbish bin"

Dumbledore's eyes were sparkling again

"But what color was his hair? Or his eyes? And he worked around here did he?"

"In a bookstore, yes. Vernon remembered him, as I said, he's not someone easy to forget! He was young but had white hair already, the rest of it was light brown I think, and his eyes were a weird dull yellow color. A Freak in shabby clothes!"

She looked about to start ranting about how all of this just made her life miserable and how she shouldn't have to deal with this, when he just nodded while keeping the knowing smile on his face.

"Thank you for you time Petunia, I'll let myself out" He said while standing out "And not to worry really, next time I come here I'll have your nephew with me" he assured, ignoring her looks.

\--

He had not seen this coming, much like he hadn’t seen the whole Sirius incident coming three years before. He surely did not expect someone like Remus to turn against them. He knew very well of the lycanthrope's former relationship with Sirius and the coincidence was all too great: Harry was kidnapped by the werewolf and the very next day the animagus breaks out of jail.

Something was definitely not right; it would be very easy to jump to the most obvious conclusion, but again, that’s not how Dumbledore’s mind worked. Remus had had all his chances to betray them in the past; if he had been in on the plan that got the Potters killed he’d have been discovered.

So why now? Why go after Harry after all this time? Were the restrictions that were forced against him enough to drive him into a fit of rage against the wizarding world? So much so that he’d hand in his best friend’s son to his death eater of a former lover?

Most wizards would probably agree. Dumbledore, however, would not.

So, humming as though nothing out of the ordinary was happening, he slowly disappeared between the trees of Privet Drive’s surroundings.

\--

At that same time the lives of very different people were having their meeting point plotted. And, oh, how would it be chaotic!

Like everyone else, the followers of the fallen dark lord had read that morning's papers. However, unlike everyone else, they knew the truth: Harry Potter's kidnapping had not been their doing. But little did they care who'd had the brilliant idea, and brilliantly executed plan, to take Harry from his relatives. The only one thing that mattered was that they knew of the blood protection, the very same one that was now gone. The savior of the wizarding world was no longer untouchable and they planed to make something of it.

The death eaters' minds filled with ideas and plans, some of which were actually inspired by the various speculations people had been throwing around.

Amber-eyed werewolves hadn't missed the news either. And Remus was filled with panic he hadn't felt for a very long time. He realized in horror that in less then 24 hours he had invaded a home, performed magic before muggles, forgotten to register at the ministry, kidnapped the boy-who-lived and would be sooner or later found out by furious Aurors or by a maniac ex-lover, or both.

He thought about Harry- if Sirius really was after him, things could get really bad really fast. The animagus knew everything about Remus, he'd manage to track him down eventually, and then what?

Maybe Remus should just turn himself in now? And assure that Harry would be safe and surrounded with Aurors who'd protect him. But then, if he did that, he'd be sending Harry back to those muggles, like he'd promised the boy he would never do.

In the end, he figured his odds of winning a duel against an out-of-practice-Sirius were much better than a four-year-old coming out unharmed after being raised by that monster of a family.

And so he knew what he had to do, hide.


End file.
